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Gipsy camp gets go-ahead

2:32pm Tuesday 5th August 2008

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AN illegal gipsy camp near Melksham is now lawful after retrospective planning permission was granted by West Wiltshire District Council.

Gipsies moved onto land next to West Wiltshire Crematorium in Semington last year after legally buying it from a local landowner.

The gipsies developed the land into a private caravan site over the course of a weekend, before the district council put a stop notice on the site, to prevent further development.

A planning application was later submitted and approved for a period of three years by councillors on Thursday night, subject to conditions.

The site must be properly landscaped, any outstanding repair work must be carried out and the land will have to be maintained for the duration of three years.

The planning permission flies in the face of opposition from local residents and the parish council in Semington.

The district council said permission would satisfy the short term unmet needs of the occupants of the site according to the Regional Spatial Strategy, Development Plan Document and Local Development Framework.

A spokesman said there were no suitable alternative sites available in west Wiltshire.

Full story and reaction in this Friday's Wiltshire Times & Chippenham News.

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Your Say YourWiltshire Times

tish, melksham says...
3:23pm Tue 5 Aug 08

Why do the council's and government always support things like this?? im sure it't the easy way out for the council just to agree to this!? can they not see that they are just trying to get out of paying taxes like the rest of us - I sometimes ask myself if we (people that pay all our taxes) are the stupid ones!?!?

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Necker, Trowbridge says...
4:11pm Tue 5 Aug 08

Playing the system from start to finish, playing us all like fiddles.

The sad thing is we have no sway on the mentality of some of our leaders.
They say one thing, get into power thankyou very much, then do whatever they are told to do from above with no regard for the majority and their electorate.

I mean.. please...

Regional Spatial Strategy, Development Plan Document and Local Development Framework.


What!!!!
Who voted that in?

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Mr P Taker, England says...
4:42pm Tue 5 Aug 08

Right then, lets all go buy a field near some quiet pleasent neighbourhood and build whatever the hell i like and see if that gets approved by the planning dept. I know **** well it wont because I have been working and paying taxes all my life and people like me are discriminated against by the spineless authorities that wont stand up to these tax dodging types as they are all frightened of being accused of being discrimatory. The only people they represent are themselves and their own interest. On another point I have been advised this week my Council Tax is to increase, I take it these hedgecutting types have had their letters as well - yea right!!!

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tish, melksham says...
4:58pm Tue 5 Aug 08

I totally agree with all the comments you have made Mr Taker - us tax payers seem to be worse off than the gypsies!! for example your council tax going up, is that for us to pay for their living??i doubt very much they are paying council tax!! also these gypsies drive around in these posh cars I think its disgusting that they can get away with this tax dodging and still afford nice cars!?! wonder if they have car insurance and car tax??yeah right!!

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mark_wilts, Melksham says...
5:32pm Tue 5 Aug 08

At the same meeting a large house between Trowbridge and Southwick was recommended for rejection after the owner started work to split it into 4 units.

Whoever allowed that to go through in the first place ought to lose their job over it, just ask anyone who attends a service at the Crematorium for their views!

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CloudCuckoo, Trowbridge says...
7:09pm Tue 5 Aug 08

What a suprise! Yet another spineless decision made by a United Kingdom council. I wonder if crime has gone up around the semington area and if the schools have taken on any short term pupils. At least the fence that they put up around the tip will stop them being offended by law abiding tax payers!

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Chris, says...
10:56pm Tue 5 Aug 08

Necker wrote:
Playing the system from start to finish, playing us all like fiddles. The sad thing is we have no sway on the mentality of some of our leaders. They say one thing, get into power thankyou very much, then do whatever they are told to do from above with no regard for the majority and their electorate. I mean.. please...
Regional Spatial Strategy, Development Plan Document and Local Development Framework.
What!!!! Who voted that in?
The Government of the Regions of course.

And we all know who they are accountable to...

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rabuf, Wiltshire says...
11:09pm Tue 5 Aug 08


This is an outrageous decision.

I can only assume that no councillors live nearby, had they done I’m sure the illegal occupants on that site would have been evicted by now.


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sold down the river, semington says...
11:20pm Tue 5 Aug 08

As a resident of semington i was present at the planning meeting. I cannot belive how our human rights were so violated by the west wilts planning committee if they represent west wilts god help us. After all who were they elected to represent. In this case it was definatl
quote
quote
ey the gipsys. The chair person showed no respect to the speakers and parish councilors of semington who were only given 2 minutes to speak and were told not to repeat any comments. These people were well cut of in their presentations. When it came to the representives of the gipsys the were allowed to complete their presentation without any time limit and repeat their argument sorry but i have to mention the sick child well they did so many times i think you could say they repeated the same comments over and over again after all it was the only argument they came up with oh yes and how well they have fitted into the community and all the facilities it has to offer! what i ask. Im sure we would all fit into a community that allows us to take over a piece of land and violate it like they have for free living.

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Necker, Trowbridge says...
12:12am Wed 6 Aug 08

For gods sake everyone...
Why do we put up with this blatent disregard of us, the people, by 'our' council?

We need change, starting at the top, and soon or change may start from the bottom and that gets nasty.

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walter, wilshur says...
7:26am Wed 6 Aug 08

They do need somewhere to live. How about an old oil rig in the North Sea?

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trowbo, Trowbridge says...
10:20am Wed 6 Aug 08

A truly shocking decision that has no ones support.

Really what is the point of having all of the laws and legislation if 'minority' groups can walk stright through it all.

As previously stated, if a good law abiding, tax paying citizen attemped anything like this they would have the book thrown at them.

We truly live in a spineless society where everyone is afraid to say boo to goose that isn't white and middle class!

If they really need an area to live in, why not take a little slice of salisbury plain for them. I'm sure the army would be more than happy to have some real life refugees to play with...

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Walter McCabe, Freshford says...
10:47am Wed 6 Aug 08

As in all things with the law, this is a precedent and a potentially dangerous one. All the PC agenda driven do-gooders in the Council fly in the face of reason and decency, predictable of course. Can anyone discover why the opponents were given such a short period of time to speak at the meeting and why they were forbidden to repeat statements outside. Is this a specific law, I would be very intrigued.

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Walter McCabe, Freshford says...
10:48am Wed 6 Aug 08

Oh, I forgot to add. Of course the "landowner" (who was that) who got his greedy mitts on the initial cash without asking any questions is as guilty as anybody!

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Graham_Hunter, London says...
11:51am Wed 6 Aug 08

I don't understand why everybody doesn't beep sound their horns when they drive past, especially at night?

I would if I drove past frequently.

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norville, westwilts says...
12:17pm Wed 6 Aug 08

Because the very same wimps at the council would have you up on a charge of noise pollution for upsetting the sleep patterns of the pikey

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Monkey Man, Melksham says...
12:29pm Wed 6 Aug 08

Its just not fair when a 90 year old granny struggles to pay her council tax and heat her home after a lifetime of tax by our government when these people can quite easily dodge and ignore the rules, move from place to place while using our local services- hospitalspolicefir
e and street lighting for free, im sure they even get there bins emptied! If they own the land and set up dwellings on it with wheels or otherwise they should be made to pay the tax.

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realistic old man, West wilts says...
2:58pm Wed 6 Aug 08

The sooner these incompetent half wits from WWDC lose their jobs, the better it will be for everyone (unless you happen to be a gipsy)

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realistic old man, West wilts says...
3:02pm Wed 6 Aug 08

Straight off the press

The gang of arts, and antiques thieves, who are members of a gipsy family, were responsible for taking property estimated to be worth more than £80 million.

A court heard that the gang raided stately homes in Wiltshire, Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Worcestershire where they knew there would be "rich pickings" during a year-long spree.
Any comments, WWDC ???


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sold down the river, semington says...
4:13pm Wed 6 Aug 08

With reference to. They do need some where to live. Has anyboby heard that these same gipsys own their house in Manchester. Id like to know if this is true. Going back to the WWDC Committe members perhaps they sould now resign and join the Trowbridge Players because they can half come up with a good script it was like watching the Vicar of Dibly. Except of course the no no no no no bit.

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abbotofmelrose, Trowbridge says...
7:59pm Wed 6 Aug 08

If they have permission for three years.... What's the chance of getting them to move on after that?? Impossible I expect.!

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chris, melksham says...
10:25pm Wed 6 Aug 08

congratulations to the gypsy family.about bloody time too. welcome to the community

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Scooter, Trowbolia says...
10:42pm Wed 6 Aug 08

The Councillors that we, the people, have voted in are clearly out of touch with the good, honest, law-abiding people that they should represent. I agree with those comments above that its time for a change.

We need people to represent us who have utmost Integrity, Honesty and are not frightened to make a decision for fear of upsetting the minority.

We the people of Trowbolia are clearly fed up with how this once great town is being taken to the cleaners by the greedy Council.

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Josey, Nr Westbury says...
11:21pm Wed 6 Aug 08

Usual bunch of racists nd bigots on here I see

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Necker, Trowbridge says...
1:19am Thu 7 Aug 08

There are no race issues here.

That record is now truly broken and he repetitivness of finger pointing and use of those cards will no longer hold any merit in this modern day society. In fact it makes the users look like the racists and troublemakers in my opinion.

We are talking about the majority of the electorate no matter what creed we are, vs a minority of law breaking, system abusing non-descripts who have had no regard for the eletorate mentioned above in the actions they have taken.

This seems now to include the leaders in the council, for reasons unbeknown to us, under-represent their electors in issues like this.

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gskyrme, London says...
10:04am Thu 7 Aug 08

Josey wrote:
Usual bunch of racists nd bigots on here I see
I fail to see how caucasian english people having a problem with other caucasian english people can be described as racist?

Report this post »

fairy86, Trowbridge says...
3:33pm Thu 7 Aug 08

Well if they're staying permanently hopefully they won't be snooping round the village anymore asking if we want our drives done etc!

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Disgusted of, Westbury says...
3:38pm Thu 7 Aug 08

'I cannot believe how our human rights were so violated by the west wilts planning committee'

Ok I'll listen. What 'Human rights' is that then?


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Daryl, melksham says...
6:29am Fri 8 Aug 08

Me thinks thou does't protest too much.....are some of us envious?......no mortgage....no negative equity.....plenty of spare cash!!!....nice motor....and the LAW on your side....GIMME..GIMME ....GIMME...I'd have a slice of that.....if I had the bottle!!!

Report this post »

chris, melksham says...
12:17pm Sat 9 Aug 08

gskyrme wrote:
Josey wrote: Usual bunch of racists nd bigots on here I see
I fail to see how caucasian english people having a problem with other caucasian english people can be described as racist?
because gskyrme gipsies of all origins and irish travellers are classed as an ethnic minority hence any abuse against them can be classed as racist as with any other ethnic group black/asian etc only it still seems to be acceptable to do it to gipsies/travellers. hope this clears things up.

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Whiteraven, Wiltshire says...
4:28pm Sat 9 Aug 08

Well said Chris.

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walter, wilshur says...
8:29pm Sat 9 Aug 08

How the hell can the Irish be counted as an ethnic minority, travellers or not? Now an HONEST traveller, that would certainly be a minority!!

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Walter McCabe, Freshford says...
4:58pm Sun 10 Aug 08

"Chris" of Melksham, it strikes me that if you dont stand for something, you,ll fall for anything, and it appears that any left leaning right on pc agenda is right up your street!

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Des, Ex-UK says...
12:18pm Tue 12 Aug 08

See the PC posters and closet Gypsies are still alert on here.

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gskyrme, London says...
12:27pm Tue 12 Aug 08

chris wrote:
gskyrme wrote:
Josey wrote: Usual bunch of racists nd bigots on here I see
I fail to see how caucasian english people having a problem with other caucasian english people can be described as racist?
because gskyrme gipsies of all origins and irish travellers are classed as an ethnic minority hence any abuse against them can be classed as racist as with any other ethnic group black/asian etc only it still seems to be acceptable to do it to gipsies/travellers. hope this clears things up.
People have nothing against Irish travellers, if an family bought a house, paid council tax, PAYE etc like everyone else has too I'm they'd be welcomed into any community.

People only getting annoyed when laws and planning regulations which apply to everyone else are allowed to be ignored purely because they are 'Irish Travellers' which somehow equates to an ethnic minority. A traveller that stays somewhere for 3 years is a bit of a contriction in terms.

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ken land, melksham says...
7:16pm Wed 13 Aug 08

who said they were gipsys i think they are drop outs who dont want to give any to society,who are the people in caravans off the semington roundabout,are they waiting for a piece of land to move onto,just one more comment i thought the site by the crematorium was for one family with a sick child ,see how many caravans are on the site now ,planning commitees,who are they

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